Peter Pomerantsev is a Soviet-born British journalist, author, and broadcaster. He is an an associate editor at Coda Story, and a senior fellow at the London School of Economics. His first book, Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible: The Surreal Heart of the New Russia, was published in 2014; his new one, This Is Not Propaganda: Adventures in the War Against Reality, has just been published by Public Affairs. (August 2019)

NYR DAILY

If these paternalistic old media bastions still stood, then one would most likely see a new normal settle eventually after this period of crisis and contest. But the new modes of instant, constant digital connection have abolished their authority; there is no barrier to entry policed by a gatekeeper, and anyone can jump into the fray at any moment. There were always battles of ideas, especially at times when anciens régimes collapsed. Today, though, the battle is not a structured affair with common rules and clear victories, but an all-out war of all against all with no discernible end-point.